Vets Undress For Holistic Medicine Calendar

Posted: November 2, 2010, 6 p.m., EDT

Published: 2010.11.08 09:14 AM

Fourteen veterinarians recently undressed for a calendar project to help celebrate the benefits of holistic and integrative veterinary medicine.

The 2011 Dr. ShowMore calendar is done in the theme of the movie “Calendar Girls,” where the subjects pose in a series of tasteful, artistic photographs, said Margo Roman, DVM, who helped spearhead the project with the Center for Integrative Veterinary Care.

“The pictures capture the human-animal bond, and the love these vets have for the profession,” said Dr. Roman, owner of MASH, Main St. Animal Services of Hopkinton in Hopkinton, Mass.

Each month in the calendar depicts a different modality or procedure. For example, January represents the whole body exam; February depicts dentistry; March depicts homeopathy; and April, featuring Roman herself, represents acupuncture.

The calendar also includes a list of resources, dates of veterinary conferences and other industry-related information.

Proceeds will support veterinary student scholarships and the filming of Dr. DoMore, a series of DVD documentaries, and other media and educational services, aimed at bringing alternative and integrative modalities used in veterinary medical treatment to mainstream veterinary medical care.

“We’re very excited about this calendar,” Roman said. “To be able to educate both the public and the veterinary profession about all the options of integrative medicine is the goal of the Dr. ShowMore calendar. Both artistic and humorous, this calendar will reach out and uncover ways to help caretakers so their animals can become and stay healthy. Raising funds for student scholarship and the Dr. DoMore documentary will continue the outreach for education.”

The response so far has been very enthusiastic, Roman said. As of early September, more than 1,000 calendars had been sold. Ten veterinarians have even requested to be photographed for the 2012 calendar, she said.

When asked if there was any reservation about posing for the calendar, Roman replied, “We kind of jumped right in. We had a powwow before [shooting the photographs] and said we are proud of our bodies…and proud of what the calendar represents.”

Sponsors of the project include The Honest Kitchen and Oma’s Pride, which also showed their support with nude photographs for the project.